Let Me Show You the Way
by 2theSky
Summary: It's been a year since Tadashi's death. And a certain face-off with a criminal hits Hiro hard when they destroy something important. It's up to his friends to help him out and save the day.


It was perfectly normal for a bank robber to have a gun.

It was not perfectly normal, however, for said gun to be bigger than Hiro's head, or for it to shoot chemicals that caused things to explode- walls, cop cars, parts of buildings, etc.- on contact.

And that's where Big Hero 6 came in.

"This guy's insane!" Fred shouted over the comm, striking another corny superhero pose- he really didn't look a thing like Superman, no matter how hard he tried- as Baymax flew over San Fransokyo, tracing the robber's location with his sensors… and also following the carnage of blown apart police cars and traffic. Ambulances had already arrived, thanks to Baymax calling them when the "Breaking News' bulletin flashed on the SFIT television in the lab.

"So are you!" Wasabi screamed, clutching Baymax's armor with all his strength. "I hate heights! And your suit freaks me out!"

"How are either of those things related?" Gogo asked, her voice monotone except for a tiny hint of sarcasm.

Wasabi shook his head as Baymax flew higher to avoid a skyscraper. "Don't know, don't care! JUST PUT ME ON THE GROUND!"

Fred sighed, grinning. "Dude, calm down. Your little OCD toes will be touching the sweet ground soon enough."

Just as he finished that statement, Baymax slowed down, circling the robber as his scanners identified him. But as Baymax started to land, the jerk swung around his gun, firing at Baymax and causing him to fall the last twenty feet to the ground, throwing his five passengers to the ground.

Hiro jumped up, brushing off the dirt from his purple armor. "Baymax! You okay, buddy?"

Baymax slowly rolled over from his back to his stomach and toddled upright. "I am fine," his calm voice replied.

Hiro nodded quickly. "Good thing I worked on thos- everybody down!"

The others ducked just in time to miss another blast from the gun, the robber decked in all black cackling like a madman… which he probably was.

Fred looked over at Wasabi, who'd managed to land in a mud puddle from yesterday's rain showers. "Well," he said sheepishly, "you're on the ground now."

Wasabi rolled his eyes. "My hero…" he trailed off sarcastically, watching in shock as one of the shots fired by Honey Lemon sent chunks of rock flying-

wait… rock?

Looking around, the two realized they'd followed the robber to a cemetery, which was a little random. But they'd been through weirder; last week they were fighting a girl who created a gun (why was it always a gun? Heat gun, ice gun, explosive-shooting gun…) that shot out taffy, and to top it off, she'd been using it to rob jewelry stores… Fred was sure there was still taffy on his suit, or maybe in it, as something sticky was gluing his left wrist to the suit.

Honey Lemon wasn't thinking quite like that; she was more aware of the fact that the debris had dented her "purse" as Fred annoyingly insisted on calling it, the chem-balls inside destroyed. Gogo looked over as she stood up from the force of a separate blast knocking her off her feet, her yellow suit the color of mustard from the dirt covering it. "Oh no…"

Wasabi sighed. "Okay, Honey can't fight," he said over the comm, his voice ringing with worry. This gun was nothing good… and considering Baymax's brilliant red armor had damage from the first hit, they might have a harder time with this than they originally thought. "Hiro, how're you doing?"

Hiro shook his head, dodging a shot as he rushed the robber, tackling him. "Been better," he gasped, trying not the let on that he'd been clipped by a shot, his suit not taking the hit too well; maybe it was time to improve it a little to handle insane pyromaniacs.

He turned just in time to see Gogo zoom by, delivering a nasty punch to the robber's face. He fell to the ground, the gun smacking off a headstone by him and cracking. Hiro winced as a loud crunch echoed through the graveyard, not sure if it had come from the gun, or the dude's broken nose which had a river of blood flowing down over his lips and to the ground. He quickly grabbed up the now destroyed gun; he could analyze it later, pick it apart and figure out how it worked. His brown eyes trailed over the cemetery, trying to find out where the rock had come from that destroyed Honey Lemon's gear.

Looking around as his friends dealt with the robber- he could hear Fred loudly insisting they tie him up and hang him upside down from a tree, something about it being from a comic book- he saw two headstones on graves marred from damage. Hiro stooped down and looked at the first one, which was only missing a piece of the corner. It was a tall pillar with borders every so far up its moss-coated sides. This grave hadn't been visited in a while, and, judging from the fact that the person- Margaret Irene Claudwell- had died in 1845, there probably weren't many visitors.

Hiro stood up and turned towards the other one. This one was grey, craved into a triangle if one looked from the side view. It looked oddly familiar as his feet turned to lead, struggling to drag one in front of the other as something gnawed at his stomach, stirring up butterflies.

Something… something bad… he could feel it.

And then it clicked.

Hiro fell to his knees, mud splashing up over his suit as he fought back tears, losing the battle almost as soon as it begun. He bit his lip, tasting metal in his mouth which his brain vaguely registered as blood from biting down so hard.

The second headstone was Tadashi's.

There was nothing left, nothing salvageable. The engraving was blown clear off, his name and birthday and the saying under it all which he couldn't remember at the moment destroyed. Hiro's mouth dried out instantly as a mix of grief and anger flooded through him, quickly drowned by sadness, as he saw the blast had burrowed itself at least ten feet down…

and the casket was gone.

There were splinters of wood, and after a year without his brother's occasional snoring waking him up at night, any remains were going to be horrific. But the casket was completely incinerated, burned to nothing.

Hiro grabbed his head, sobbing as his friends helped the police with the criminal, not noticing their friend as he stood up like a puppet unwillingly pulled this way and that, stumbling from the cemetery, head hung and eyes burning with tears as they fell to the ground. The gun was abandoned, falling limply from Hiro's shaking grip.

Tadashi was gone. Had been gone for a year now. Empty bed. Hat without its original owner's head. Lab occupied by the younger brother. Days where there was no one to annoy or joke around with because Aunt Cass was stress eating for some reason or other.

Aunt Cass… she'd be devastated to hear this. They had some money, but a new headstone? With a few repairs needed in the cafe's kitchen after something went amiss (Hiro was not about to explain his involvement as one supervillain hurled a car into the restaurant... their insurance had counted it as a car accident, at least) they weren't able to fork over the cash for this… even if it was Tadashi, the repairs to what little was left of his grave would have to painfully wait.

And Tadashi didn't deserve that.

Another tear leaked out, Hiro sniffling as he shuffled home, taking sidestreets, his mind on autopilot. "T-Tadashi…" he shook his head and looked up at the sky, screaming at the top of his lungs, to whom he wasn't sure, "WHY?!"

* * *

**"I'm looking at you, old friend of mine. It's no use pretending that everything's fine…"**

* * *

"Um…" The criminal was on his way to jail, the cops had left with splatters of mud flying up from the tires, and Wasabi, Fred, Gogo, and Honey Lemon were all standing around, watching as Baymax toddled after a blue and lavender butterfly, almost tripping over a headstone in the process. Fred was the first to notice that Big Hero 6 was currently only made up of five of their number. "Guys, Hiro's gone."

"What?" Gogo's tone was only slightly tinged with worry; her poker face slipped as the four looked around, realizing Hiro had left. "Where is he? Baymax!"

Baymax wasn't listening, just following his fluttering friend about the cemetery.

"Baymax!" Honey Lemon tried this time in unison with Gogo.

Baymax's only response was to keep bumbling about in his armor after the beautiful creature, saying, "Hello, little butterfly. I will scan you now," for some reason the four friends couldn't quite figure out. Why scan a butterfly-

"BAYMAX!" all four chorused.

Baymax looked up from the orange lily at one of the graves where the butterfly had landed. "Yes?"

"Can you scan for Hiro?"

Baymax straightened up and looked around, something clicking in his helmet and a faint green light appearing over the open visor of the helmet as the scan started. "He is at home."

"Home?" Wasabi was profusely brushing the dirt from his suit, really wishing there was a way to stop it from… riding up. He frowned, wincing as he realized the armor holding his retractable plasma blades on his left arm was dented and tightened painfully. "Why'd he run off? Last time he left us on that creepy island after making Baymax turn rogue." His dark eyes glanced around, empathy flaring up inside him as he noticed the destruction. "I, uh, I hope these people can replace these… who covers the cost anyways?"

"I don't know…" Fred started walking around, almost positive there was taffy in his suit… he'd knew for sure if he ate it. And if he did, his sky blue eyes would ignite from the sugar and- "Focus, Fred," he muttered, trying to keep his thoughts relatively off comics and his dad being off fighting crime in- no, he was on a business meeting in Japan. That was all…

His thoughts trailed off as he noticed where he was standing. Fred's stomach churned, pain assaulting it worse than when he'd eaten a three day old tuna hoagie that hadn't made it to the fridge years ago… but what was expected when he was five and Heathcliff and his parents had left him unattended for a legit business meeting across town? What was making him feel so weird?"

"Tadashi."

All four jumped at Baymax's random mention of their dearly departed friend. Honey Lemon felt tears sting her eyes at his name; he'd been a great friend, and they were all still reeling from the loss. "Yeah, we all miss him, Bayma-"

"Tadashi…" Baymax stopped talking, almost like he was unsure of something. He waddled over to Fred and looked at the one destroyed headstone, then at Fred. "Excuse me," he said politely, Fred ducking out of the way as the rows for graves were tight and Baymax couldn't squeeze through. He ran another scan and his voice chirped, "Diagnostic complete. Tadashi was here."

Gogo frowned, pulling a pack of gum from a hidden pouch on her suit- thanks to Hiro adding a few tricks- and unwrapped the piece, popping it in her mouth. "Baymax, how could he possibly-"

Baymax just pointed at the ground, and the others gathered closer, all gasping as they saw the pieces of shattered headstone, the ground completely destroyed. The ground that a year ago they'd stood on, watching painfully as their friend was buried...

No wonder Hiro ran.

* * *

**"So don't be so brave. Don't be so proud. I want you to know that I'm here for you now…"**

* * *

Hiro didn't remember managing to to get home and into his room. He didn't remember peeling off his suit and somehow with his jumbled thoughts and despair managed to hide it. He suddenly snapped back to reality, Mochi's calico dotted body curling on his lap in concern, not attempting to scratch his eyes out for once. Hiro noticed he was also holding his brother's hat, his fingers blindly rubbing at the stitching; why in the world had his brother loved this hat so much? Why was he sitting here cradling it like it was his last link to Tadashi?

"Well," Hiro sniffled, the tears that he'd managed to stop coming back full force over the reddened tracks down his still unwashed face, the dirt from the cemetery still smudging his cheeks and chin, "it's kinda the only thing I have left…"

The only physical thing. That was his. True, Aunt Cass had photo albums, and their room had a few pictures of the two growing up, but you could only look at a picture, not hold it.

Slowly, Hiro placed the cap on his head, pushing his unruly hair into his eyes, hiding the tears building up in them. What was he supposed to do now? He was a fifteen year old college student who took down supervillains… and he couldn't even find a way to fix this problem.

* * *

**"I can see you hurting and it's hurting me. It doesn't have to be this way…"**

* * *

A week had passed.

A week of Hiro walking around with his shoulders slumped, his dark eyes clouded with grief, and his lunches always packed by Aunt Cass untouched.

His friends were taking notice of how he was constantly making mistakes with his newer inventions. True, mishaps were inevitable when working with the equipment and trying new things, but Hiro was almost sloppy, like his head wasn't in it.

And in all honesty, it wasn't.

But that wasn't the worst of it. On Friday, the gang had managed to convince Hiro to join them for lunch in the college's cafeteria. It took some persuasion, but he caved, smiling after his friends left to go to class and he walked to his. Maybe he'd feel better after this. Sure, his hope that he would was slim, but it existed.

Until Friday rolled around.

Hiro was almost to the cafeteria. He glanced up at a clock in the hallway. 1:01. The others wouldn't be there for nine minutes. He almost smiled at that, knowing that for the first time this week he was early to something.

As he turned down one of the hallways, passing a bulletin board with information on different community events- Hiro noticed an Operation Christmas Child poster from last Christmas that looked a little out of place in April- he could see the building that was built in his brother's honor. Krei had pulled out all the stops with that project. Hiro sighed. Sure, Krei could stinking afford it. But him and Aunt Cass couldn't.

Hiro shook his head, straightening his posture some from its slouch. He'd move past it. He had to. A fifteen year old prodigy didn't have time to grieve. Why else did he stay busy all night, trying to invent random things that even he wasn't sure what to use them for? Everyone just wrote it off as his creative process. He let them. What purpose was there to correcting them?

With the cafeteria only a few steps away, Hiro quickened his pace, brightening a little at the thought of seeing his friends. They had rushed over- as soon as Baymax flew them home- and were immediately trying to get his mind off the incident, trying to cheer him up. They figured they wouldn't tell Aunt Cass; they'd let the authorities do it to avoid suspicion, considering Aunt Cass had no idea they were the heroes that were praised on billboards throughout the city.

Suddenly something slammed into Hiro, knocking him against the blue and grey tile wall roughly, his head banging off the border. He groaned, shaking his head at the pain. What was the big idea?

"Well, if it isn't little Hiro Hamada," someone sneered. Hiro immediately knew who it was and cringed internally, now knowing he was going to be late. "I'd be sorry I ran into you, but you're such a runt I can't even see you."

Todd Wilkes. Biggest jerk on campus. And... in half his classes.

And he refused to lay off.

Ever since Hiro was admitted to college- he was still in awe over how massive his scholarship was, considering it covered the cost completely- Todd had made his life miserable. Or attempted to. Hiro was too happy and carefree to really let it hit hard. Graduating high school at thirteen hadn't been an easy road to travel down. He wished he would hit a stupid growth spurt already. An inch in a year and a half was NOT a growth spurt! And compared to Todd who was 6'5", he was truly a dwarf.

Todd just smirked, his green eyes blazing. How this guy knew Tadashi, Hiro didn't know. But he wished the two had never crossed paths because ever since his brother's death, Todd hadn't let him alone. "Why so down, Zero? Do you miss your brother?"

Hiro didn't respond, just tried to hold back the pain at Todd's verbal jab. He'd been called "Zero" before. But slamming his brother, and at a time like this... "Just leave me alone, Todd," Hiro finally said, his voice tight with emotion.

Todd guffawed and grabbed his shoulder, slamming the smaller boy into the wall once more. "You're the reason he'd dead, you know," Todd spat menacingly in Hiro's face, his breath rancid, and smelling slightly of alcohol; everyone knew Todd drank, and he'd gotten in trouble for it plenty of times. "Tadashi wouldn't have been there that night if his little genius brother hadn't wanted to get into college."

Hiro just looked down. Tadashi was the one who helped him get his life out of the gutter. Bot fighting... he shivered at the thought, and Todd only grinned, thinking the shiver was caused by his wrath. "You just have to mess up everyone's lives, don't you, Hiro? And those friends of yours? Yeah, they're only around because you're Tadashi's baby brother. They don't care AT ALL. They'll stab you in the back and leave you behind. They don't want a little brat like you around." That was a lie... it had to be! Hiro knew it was, but the doubt flared up inside and he didn't know what to do to extinguish it. "You just mess up EVERYTHING. You killed your brother that night." Hiro wanted to scream that he hadn't, but deep down he believed Todd completely.

He was the reason everything went wrong.

He was the reason his brother was gone.

"Hey!"

Hiro didn't look up at the familiar shout from Fred, his mascot uniform ditched because he was joining them and sitting for an hour in a stuffy suit wasn't something he planned to do. "What are you doing?"

Todd shrugged and stepped back, his smirk still standing. "Nothing, Fred- it is Fred, right? Just talking to your little friend here."

Fred knew Todd's reputation and growled, "Get lost." Huh, he was getting better at sounding like Batman- no! Fred quickly regrouped, noticing Todd's slight panic at his low voice and quickly left, leaving Fred and Hiro there alone. Hiro didn't move for a moment, and the only thing he did was adjust his grey hoodie after Todd had nearly pulled it off.

Fred sighed. "Hiro... what'd he say?"

Hiro just shook his head. Didn't answer. Didn't look up.

"Hiro, please. I'm your friend, man. Please... what did that jerk tell you?"

Fred wasn't an idiot. He may be a little ADHD, but he was far smarter than anyone ave him credit for. He knew Hiro had been having some issues with other students on campus, but not quite getting stuffed in lockers or getting beat up. Todd had come the closest to physical violence; Fred was counting it as such, anyways. He shoved Hiro into the wall twice!

Hiro bit his lip and whispered, "He told me the truth," and ran, flying down the hallway, his battered Converse squeaking once in a while on the smooth floor.

Fred pulled out his phone and immediately sent a group message to Honey Lemon, Gogo, and Wasabi, a couple typos littering the words: _**Hiros not coming. Wil explainb when u get here.**_ He hit "send" and immediately had an idea. He called Heathcliff. "Hey, Heathcliff, is Dad home? Great! I gotta talk to him." He waited for his dad and immediately started spilling out his plan. "Dad, I need some help..."

* * *

**"Well I hate seeing you so far away, when not a word can say enough…"**

* * *

Baymax wasn't sure why he was doing this. All he knew was Fred had told him to bring Hiro back to the cemetery. Something about a surprise... but Baymax didn't know what Hiro would find surprising in a grave yard.

But who was he to argue with Fred? And he was a robot. He couldn't argue.

But, as Baymax walked up to the cemetery, dragging Hiro along, he could tell Hiro wasn't thrilled; his scans indicated anger. Anger and frustration. Sadness. Sorrow. Just about every emotion under the sun except happiness. Baymax knew too well that Hiro hadn't felt true happiness since the fight with the robber now two weeks passed.

And as much as a robot could, Baymax hoped whatever Fred had up his sleeve was something that would make him happy.

"Baymax!" Hiro finally manged to get out of Baymax's death grip of a hug and on his feet. "Stop! I don't want to be here! I don't want to-"

"Hiro!"

Hiro looked up as his four friends rushed over, all smiling hopefully. "Hey, guys..." he didn't know what to say, not with Todd's words so embedded into his thoughts.

Honey Lemon smiled, not quite noticing his expression which was a mix of doubt and hope. "We have something to show you."

What? Hiro just followed them blindly as he was pulled along. What could they possibly want to show him? And why did he feel queasy all off the sudden?

They finally released him and Hiro first noticed the fresh dirt underfoot, like it was a new grave. He didn't want to be standing on it! He jumped backwards, looking up in the process.

And he saw it.

Hiro's eyes went wide as what stood in front of him was a headstone. In big letters over the top it read "TADASHI HAMADA". Hiro looked at his friends. "How-"

Wasabi grinned. "You're forgetting that Fred's dad is loaded, kid."

Hiro looked at Fred gratefully, then back at the stone. It was in a black stone, the words shimmering in the sunlight under Tadashi's name: _**a true hero and amazing friend**_. A picture of Baymax was engraved in the lower left corner, and a picture of Tadashi, Hiro, and Aunt Cass across from it. Hiro smiled, his first true smile in a while. "Guys... thanks. I... I can't believe-"

Fred patted Hiro's shoulder. "I know what Todd told you." Hiro knew his friend had some martial arts experience, and if any of the other team members were around, Todd would most likely be in ICU for a year, so he didn't press the matter. "We all do. He's just a jerk. Don't believe him. We really care about you... you're our little brother. And we'd never be able to replace you."

* * *

**"I'll be your rock for this day when I hear you calling out my name 'cause I know you'd only do the same for me…"**

* * *

Hiro didn't want to cry, but somehow he wound up crying anyway, his friends hugging him, Baymax joining by cuddling them all. He really loved his friends... and without Tadashi, he'd never be who he was now. He looked at the picture in the corner, smiled at his brother's picture.

He was the real hero.

Hiro smiled and whispered, "Thanks, Tadashi."

Suddenly Fred laughed and said, "So... guys, I found out that stuff in my suit WAS taffy..."

Wasabi grimaced. "Dude, you didn't eat it, did you?"

"What? I'm not dead from it!"

Gogo tried not to laugh, Honey Lemon giggled, and Wasabi gagged, muttering something about throwing up. Hiro laughed as well.

He wasn't about to trade this for anything. Ever.

* * *

_-this is my first time writing for Big Hero 6, so… how'd i do? good? bad? horrific? (i think most of the terminology was right… sorry if i messed some stuff up. and i also intended to finish this, um, two months ago… sorry for any mistakes or typos :( ) i love this movie so much!  
_

_the song lyrics are from Michael W. Smith's "Let Me Show You the Way"._

_have an amazing day (or night- i'm not sure what time it is where you are...) and God bless! :)_


End file.
